LOUISVILLE Ky. Papa John’s International has filed a civil action in Jefferson County Circuit Court in Louisville, after a Kentucky family claimed to local media sources that it would sue the pizza chain.
Louisville-based Papa John’s filed the lawsuit Sept. 2 because the threat of legal action “forced the company’s hand” and brought negative attention to the brand, said Chris Sternberg, the company’s general counsel and senior vice president of corporate communications.
Papa John’s has filed for declaratory relief, asking a judge to certify the results of its recent contest to find the 1971 Z28 Camaro that founder John Schnatter had sold in 1983 to start the chain. Jeff Robinson of Flatwoods, Ky., the owner of the car, was awarded $250,000 for returning the vehicle to Schnatter.
Billie and Phillip Slone of Russell, Ky., claim they are entitled to the grand prize because they alerted Papa John’s to the whereabouts of Robinson’s Camaro. However, the company noted that the contest rules stipulated from the beginning that the owner of the car must present the title to the vehicle to be declared the winner, and thus Robinson was the rightful winner of the $250,000. Papa John’s offered a $25,000 finder’s fee to the Slone family when the contest wrapped up last month.
While the Slones did not sue Papa John’s over the dispute, they publicly claimed they would, prompting the pizza chain to file for declaratory relief, Sternberg said.
“We filed an action in response to [the Slones’] threats, and we did it to protect the integrity of the contest and our ability to conduct similar promotions in the future,” Sternberg said. “We needed to get certainty around the contest.”
In the formal complaint, Papa John’s claimed that the Slones were told they weren’t eligible to win the contest because they did not possess the title to the Camaro. The company claims that the Slones then approached Robinson and told him an acquaintance of theirs would pay him $125,000 for the car.
Sternberg said the Slones did not accept Papa John’s offer of a $25,000 finder’s fee for alerting the company that Robinson owned the sought-after Camaro.
“We made that offer in good faith, and thought it was more than fair,” Sternberg said, adding that Papa John’s would continue to act in good faith with the Slone family, even as the dispute continues into litigation.
Papa John’s is the nation’s third-largest pizza chain, with more than 3,000 locations in the United States and abroad.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected]